UPDATE: With the Dodgers off the table, Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com was told by a source that Hiroki Kuroda is now “considering all options,” including offers from major-league teams regardless of location as well an offer to return home to pitch for the Hiroshima Carp. For what it’s worth, the expectation is that he could earn more with a major-league club than in Japan.

11:40 AM: The Dodgers signed left-hander Chris Capuano to a two-year, $10 million contract yesterday, which effectively signified as a goodbye to Hiroki Kuroda. Many believe that the veteran right-hander would rather go back to Japan than pitch for another team in the United States, but that hasn’t stopped other MLB teams from expressing interest.

Troy Renck of the Denver Postreports that the Rockies “have quietly pursued” Kuroda and believe they may have a decent chance of signing him based on “preliminary conversations.” However, it’s not clear whether they have had any direct talks with Kuroda’s agent.

Kuroda, who turns 37 in February, lost 16 games for a lousy Dodgers team this season, but posted a 3.07 ERA and 161/49 K/BB ratio over 202 innings. He has a 3.45 ERA since coming over to the United States in 2008, which is better than fellow National League hurlers Roy Oswalt, Yovani Gallardo, Ted Lilly and Chad Billingsley. There aren’t many quality free agent starting pitchers available this winter, so he could fetch a pretty nice contract if he elects to stick around.

The pursuit isn’t as quiet now. The guy is pretty adamant about only playing for the Dodgers or possibly Angels stateside, so I’d be surprised if he lands in Denver. Kurosawa has this honor over money philosophy that’s foreign to this culture.